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Mount Vernon to Anacostia River
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Heritage Island Wayside
National Park Service Site
Stone rest stop provides a panoramic view of the Anacostia River. The river in this area was dredged in the early 1900s. Prior to the arrival of European settlers in the 18th century, the Anacostia River was a fast-flowing and relatively silt-free river with very few mudflats or marshes. White settlers cleared much of the surrounding forest for farmland, however, and extensive soil erosion led to a heavy load of silt and effluent in the Anacostia. In 1805, a local landowner built a wooden bridge over the Anacostia River at the present site of Benning Bridge. The wooden bridge was rebuilt several times after 1805. This included construction of a steel bridge in 1892. The construction of Benning and other bridges and the diversion of inflowing streams to agricultural use also slowed the river's current, allowing much of the silt to settle and be deposited. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingman_Island
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National Park Service Site
575 Oklahoma Ave. NE
Washington DC 20002
202-488-0627
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